STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ... Dr.prema.pdfSRJIS/K. PREMALAKSHAMI, (551-565) OCT-NOV, 2012, Vol. – I, Issue-III Page 551 STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF HIGHER

SRJIS/K. PREMALAKSHAMI, (551-565)

OCT-NOV, 2012, Vol. – I, Issue-III www.srjis.com Page 551

STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF HIGHER

SECONDARY STUDENTS

K. Premalakshmi

Guest Lecturer, Department of Education

Periyar University, Salem.

Received: 23 Sept 2012

Reviewed & Accepted: 28 Nov 2012

Education is an essential human virtue. Education is bringing out the best already in

human. Study Habit is a factor, which has its own weightage in establishment of the children

in the field of education, which differs from individual to individual. Students should be made

aware of the importance of it and proper training should be given right from childhood.

The scope of the study is more to enhance the academic achievement among

adolescents. Every Parent wants their child to do well in school and to learn as much as they

possibly can. To be good students, adolescent need to develop good Study Habits at home

and school. Parents can help to develop good Study Habits at home. Development of a good

Study Habits is an art. Formation of regular Study Habits is the first step for the Academic

Achievement. Students should be practiced at home and school to have a good Study Habits.

Steps are to be taken by the educational experts and parents to strengthen the children in all

the above aspects which will have positive contribution for the development of our nation.

From the research, the researcher is able to find that the variable Study Habits is

contributing for the Academic Achievement.

Key words: study habits, academic achievement, & higher secondary students

Introduction

“The triangular relationship between parents, teachers and child makes the child on the

receiving end and two factors come into play, education and the family”,

Jawaharlal Nehru (1967).

Abstract

Abstract



Education is an essential human virtue. Human becomes ‘human’ through

education. Education is bringing out the best already in human. It is a life long process.

Education fashions and models him/her for society. Education is the key factor for the growth

of the country. The development of a country relies mostly on the level of education among

the people. Without education human race would have remained but as another animal race.

According to Swami Vivekananda (1900) education is for life-building, man-

making, character-building, assimilation of ideas, exposition of completed individuality and

enkindling the urge of spirituality inherent in every mind. Study Habit is an individual

ability. Some children like to read alone, some want to read in a group. Some children read

aloud and some read silently. There is no strict yardstick to measure the type of Study

Habits. It may be inherited or acquired. The child can formulate its own Study Habits by

itself.

Generally it is assumed that there exists a positive relation between Study

Habits and Academic Achievement among students. This assumption can be true only if it

can be established through a scientific treatment. Study Habit is a factor, which has its own

weightage in establishment of the children in the field of education, which differs from

individual to individual.

The study is taken by the investigator to find out whether there is any

relationship and also to find out the percentage of its contribution on the Academic

Achievement of the Higher Secondary Students of Salem district.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Various study habits are followed by the students and they should be guided to

choose the appropriate study habits which suit them well. Students should be made aware of

the importance of it and proper training should be given right from childhood.

The scope of the study is more to enhance the academic achievement among

adolescents. That means study habits should be focused and attention should be given to the

children according to their requirement. Inadequacy area should be highlighted and remedial

measures should be administered to cope up the lapse.

There are many factors influence the academic achievement of the higher

secondary students. But the investigator has chosen the variable- Study Habit- which

contributes its support to the Academic Achievement of higher secondary students for its

unique reason. Each child has unique gifts to contribute to the learning process. It is our job,

as parents and teachers, to help children know what their gifts are and how to nurture them

properly.



STUDY HABITS

Children begin life as successful learners. They are born with incredible

eagerness and ability to learn. There is a Swahili proverb that says, “The greatest good we

can do for others is not just to share our riches with them, but to reveal their riches to

themselves” and as Dorothy Corkill Briggs (1968) says, “When children know uniqueness

is respected, they are more likely to put theirs to use”.

The essence of all counseling relationship is to help a person cope effectively

with ‘an important point of concern’. It is generally agreed that passing the examination is a

sufficiently “crisis” situation where counseling may help. For this reason an important

component of educational counseling on Study Habits aimed to augment achievement in

examination. Study Habits is defined as “Strategies of work” which have some common

denomination activities as taking notes, using the library, improving reading ability, building

vocabulary, writing term papers and taking examination. Study skills are synonymous to

“reading skills’ and they were further analyzed as skills of outlining, summarizing, reading

for definitions, reading for inferences and so on.

Institutions play a very vital role in the formation of Study Habits among

adolescents. It paves the way for them to learn about the effectiveness of group study. Some

who are week in their academic can be joined with those who are strong in their academic

side. This also helps the adolescents not only to learn subjects but also helps for healthy

social behavior among them without any discrimination. It is the place where the adolescents

can identify themselves. That means it is the place, which helps them to identify which type

of Study Habits is suitable to them. Library has its own vital role in the formation of Study

Habits. Students should be regular users of library books. This helps them to acquire more

knowledge and also it helps to formulate a unique type of Study Habits, which helps them to

shine well in Academic Achievement also.

Every Parent wants their child to do well in school and to learn as much as

they possibly can. To be good students, adolescent need to develop good Study Habits at

home and school. Parents can help to develop good Study Habits at home. The learning needs

guidance which must be provided by the teacher for the teaching has been defined as the

guidance of learning. It is possible that bright pupils might score poorly in the examination

for want of proper methods of study, which, without adequate guidance by the teacher will

continue to stand in their way. It seems obvious that the technique and devices which

experiments and experience have proved to be most effective, should aid his pupils in



choosing those techniques which gives the best results for them and must inculcate the habit

of using these procedures.

Through a proper method, there can be maximum formation of Study Habits,

which is the transfer of knowledge and optimum learning. That’s how the teacher assists the

students in adopting appropriate method of Study Habits to the individual based on their own

individuality.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Education is a process towards development. The task of educational research

is to identify the determinants of development from various aspects of life-past and present,

which seems to have guided the general life styles in the social, economic, political, religious

and other spheres. Achievement is success in any field. Scholastic achievement is one in

which the success of pupils performance in learning is brought out. This success is measured

by means of scores awarded to test items in different subjects and varies from pupil to pupil

and teacher to teacher.

The achievement test made by the teacher consisted of test items such as essay

type, short answer and objective type questions from the lessons studied by the samples. The

syllabus is the same for all the schools and examination pattern is also the same for all

schools irrespective of the medium of instruction.

Changes are taking place in organization, curriculum and teaching technique.

It is pertinent to seek systematic and up to date information on the significant correlates of

pupil achievement. It is appropriate to consider factors affecting the Academic Achievement

such as pupil’s socio-economic background, intelligence, language and personality factors,

while studying factors associated with Academic Achievement; it is pertinent to investigate

the differential patterns if any, in respect of sex and different courses of studies of art and

sciences.

According to Carter. V.Good (1976) the knowledge attained or skills

developed in school subjects are usually developed by teachers. The term ‘achievement’ is

defined as “accomplishment or proficiency of performance in a given skill or body of

knowledge”. According to Dictionary of Psychology (Roberts et, al. 1979) “Academic

Achievement is specified level of attainment or proficiency in academic work as evaluated by

the teachers by standardized tests or by a combination of both”. The Dictionary of

Psychology (Atkinsonetal, 1988) defines achievement as a specified level of proficiency in

scholastic or academic work. Education or achievement is a specified level of proficiency in

academic work as evaluation of both.



STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Development of a good Study Habits is an art. Formation of regular Study

Habits is the first step for the Academic Achievement. Students should be practiced at home

and school to have a good Study Habits. They should be guided properly so that it becomes

regularization to the students’ right from small age.

Students should learn to centre themselves on their values and principles.

They should be known to give priorities of their work. Follow up on the priorities they have

set for themselves, and do not let others or other interests, which may distract them from their

goals. So, Students should be firm in setting up their goals and executing them properly.

Students should know about their key productivity periods and places of study. Time and

study place should be focused and stick on to them firmly. Students should know how to

solve a problem in a better way. This problem-solving ability helps the students well in the

good Academic Achievement. Overall a scheduled scheme practice helps the students shine

well not only in their Academic Achievement but also in all walks of life to lead very

successful life.

Garrison (1980), Cuff (1980), Mokinney (1980), Wagner (1987), stated that

training in Study Habits increases Academic Achievement. Smity Leland (1986), Modougle

(1999) founded that high achievers will have good Study Habits and consequently good

Academic Achievement. Gupta Asha (1990) stated that there exists a positive correlation

between Study Habits and Academic Achievement. Halloway (1980), Bolgiani (1984),

Nancy (2001), Dapna (2002) stated that Parental and School involvement leads to good

Academic Achievement. Susan Jacob (2002) founded correlation between Achievement

Motivation and Academic Achievement. Alice O.Ajeh (1991) stated that Parental Socio-

Economic Status influences the Academic Achievement

OBJECTIVES

To find out the level of Study Habits of Higher Secondary Students

To find out the difference in Study habits between and among groups in terms of

gender, area, type of school, class of the students and medium of instruction.

To find out the difference in Academic Achievement between and among groups in

terms of gender, area, type of school, class of the students and medium of instruction.

To find out the relationship between study habits and academic achievement of higher

secondary students.



HYPOTHESES

The level of Study habits of Higher Secondary students is high

Difference is not found in the Study habits in terms of their Sex, locality, type of school,

class of the students and medium of instruction.

Difference is not found in the Academic Achievement in terms their Sex, locality, type

of school, class of the students and medium of instruction.

There is a significant relationship between study habits and academic achievement of

higher secondary students.



DESIGN OF STUDY

METHO

D OF

STUDY

VARIABLES TOOLS POPULATIO

N SAMPLE ANALYSIS

STATISTI

CS USED

Descriptiv

e cum

survey

Main

Variables

Study habits

Academic

Achievement

Demographic

Variables

Gender

Area of the

School

Type of the

school

Class of the

students

Medium of

Instruction

Study habits

tool

constructed

and validated

by the

Researcher

Academic

Achievement

scores

Higher

Secondary

Students of

Salem district

– 15088

students

525 Higher

Secondary

Students

Girls

185

Boys

340

Rural

286

Urban

239

Aided

286

Government

239

XIth

255

XIIth

269

English

Medium 146

Tamil

Medium

379

Descriptive

Analysis

Differential

Analysis

Relational

Analysis

Regressiona

l

Analysis

Mean,

Standard

Deviation

‘t’-test

Correlation

Regression



COLLECTION OF DATA

The investigator personally met the Government and Aided school Head masters and

got permission to meet the students personally and explained them about the investigation.

After that, the tools were distributed and administered to them. Data have been collected from

six schools consists of 525 students.

TOOLS-PERSONAL DATA SHEET

The Personal data Sheet was prepared to collect information on the personal data and

demographic data. After selecting the sample, the investigator has distributed the

questionnaire to the students. The investigator first got permission to collect information from

the school authorities, the C.E.O. (Chief Educational Officer) of Salem and the Head of the

Institutions. Then the investigator got permission from the Head Masters/ Head Mistresses of

the concerned six schools. Generally they encouraged the investigator in this investigation.

STUDY HABITS

The Study habits tool is constructed by the Investigator. It consists of 32 questions with 5

point scale score. The tools were administered and requested to answer them carefully and

sincerely. No time limit was prescribed. The score for Study Habits applied was a 5 point

scale. The total score is 160 in which 5 is the maximum limit and 1 is the minimum limit

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Both XIth

and XIIth

class students were accounted for the study. For XIth

class students their

Xth

Public Marks were taken and for XIIth

class students their XIth

Marks were noted from

their School Records and they were converted into standard scores.

VALIDITY AND RELILABILITY OF THE TOOL

The Validity of the Study habits was established with the opinion and concurrence of the

field experts, educationists and parents. Reliability of the tool was established by Split half

method (0.93) and Sample reliability by test – Retest method (0.90)



ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

Description of mean scores Study habits in terms of various groups

Groups N Mean S.D

Gender

Boys 340 108.95 16.974

Girls 185 108.77 22.496

Area

Rural 286 106.94 19.558

Urban 239 111.22 17.867

Type of School

Aided 286 110.46 17.069

Government 239 107.00 20.781

Class of Students

11th

255 115.69 15.784

12th

270 102.45 19.423

Medium of Instruction

English 146 110.95 16.137

Tamil 379 108.09 19.838

From the table it is observed that rural, government school students, 12th standard

students exhibit lesser Study habits when compared to the mean scores of the Urban, aided

school students, 11th standard students. Obviously, it is concluded that Rural, government

and 12th

standard students showed lesser study habits due to many reasons among which

includes heavy work load for 12th students., not much attention received from the teachers or

parents or peers.



Description of mean scores of Academic Achievement in terms of various groups

Group N Mean S.D

Gender

Boys 340 65.14 14.022

Girls 185 66.14 14.370

Area

Rural 286 63.94 14.938

Urban 239 67.34 12.909

Type of School

Aided 286 69.46 12.376

Govt. 239 60.74 14.672

Class of the Students

11th

255 74.51 10.365

12th

269 56.99 11.767


English 146 69.61 12.686

Tamil 379 63.90 14.365

From the above table it is observed that the rural area students, government

school students, 12th

standard students and Tamil medium students show less academic

achievement when compared with the mean scores of urban area students, aided school

students, 11th

standard students and English medium students.



DIFFERENTIAL ANALYSIS

Significant difference of Mean scores in Study habits

Groups N Mean S.D ‘t’-

Value p

Gender

Boys 340 108.95 16.974 0.101 NS

Girls 185 108.77 22.496

Area

Rural 286 106.94 19.558 2.597 S

Urban 239 111.22 17.867

Type of School

Aided 286 110.46 17.069 2.095 S

Government 239 107.00 20.781

Class of Students

11th

255 115.69 15.784 8.541 S

12th

270 102.45 19.423


English 146 110.95 16.137 1.551 NS

Tamil 379 108.09

19.838

It is inferred from the data that significant difference is found in terms of the groups –students

belonging to rural/urban, aided/government schools and 11th

/12th whereas the difference is

not found between boys and girls and Medium of Instruction.

The hypothesis is not verified in terms of the area, type of school and class of the student and

it is verified in terms of gender and medium of instruction of the students. Hence it is

concluded that significant difference is not found in terms of gender and medium of

instruction whereas difference is found in terms of the area, types of schools and class of the

students.



Significant difference of Mean scores in Academic achievement.

Group N Mean S.D ‘t’-Value p

Gender

Boys 340 65.14 14.022 0.773 NS

Girls 185 66.14 14.370

Area

Rural 286 63.94 14.938 2.761 S

Urban 239 67.34 12.909

Type of School

Aided 286 69.46 12.376 7.379 S

Govt. 239 60.74 14.672

Class of the Students

11th

255 74.51 10.365 18.043 S

12th

269 56.99 11.767


English 146 69.61 12.686 4.206 S

Tamil 379 63.90 14.365

It is inferred from the table that significant difference is found in terms of groups- students

belonging to rural/urban areas, aided/government school, 11th

/12th

class of the students and

English/Tamil medium students whereas difference is not found between boys and girls.

The hypothesis is not verified in terms of groups such as area, types of school, class of the

students and medium of instruction and it is verified in terms of gender. Hence it is concluded

that there exists significant divergence in area, type of school, class of students and medium

of instruction whereas significant difference is not found in the gender of the students.

Among the class of the students the difference of mean score between 11th

and 12th

is more.

This is because for the 11th

and 12th

is more. This is because for the 11th

standard students,

their 10th

marks have been obtained and considered whereas for the 12th

standard students,

their 11th

marks have been obtained and considered, students showed their maximum

achievement in their 10th

standard rather than 11th

standard.



Correlation between Study habits and Academic Achievement

N r p

525 0.520 <0.01

Since the obtained ‘r’ value is significant at 0.01 level it is inferred that there is a positive and

significant relationship between Study habits and academic achievement.

Unclassified Co-efficients ‘t’-Value ‘p’-Value

B Std. Error

Constant -12.918 2.110 -6.118 0.000

Study habits 0.099 0.018 5.454 0.000

The Regression Co-efficient for Study habits is 0.099 which has a significant relationship on

Academic Achievement indicating that Study habits influences the Academic Achievement.

If the Study habit is increased for one level, 9 % of Academic Achievement is increased.

School R R2 %

Academic Achievement 0.749 56.1

Study habits -0.461 21.3

Once the Discriminant function and its classification efficiency are assessed, then the

next question remains to be answered is, how efficient are the Discriminating variables in the

discriminate function? Table gives the structural correlation which measures the simple linear

correlations between each independent variable and Discriminant function.

The R-squared percentage indicates the percent contribution of the variable to

discriminant function. It is noticed from the table that nearly 56% of the variations in the

discriminant function is due to Academic Achievement score. Hence it is concluded that the

academic achievement of aided school students is more due to better Study habits whereas

the poor academic achievement of Government school students is due to lesser Study habits

DELIMITATONS OF THE STUDY

The present study is delimited to only one district namely Salem District, in Tamilnadu,

South India.

The study is focused only on Higher Secondary students.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

The educational implications of the study are as follows:



From the findings, the investigators found that the students of government schools do not

get appropriate attention from their parents, teachers and peers. This may be due to many

reasons such as poverty, family commitment of parents, lack of time for the teachers to

spend with students due to over crowd classroom, lack of Inter personal relationship

between the peers. So special care should be given by the school authorities and

government thereby special attention will be received by government school students.

Parents should care their children equally irrespective of XIth and XIIth standards in their

study habits. Parents should interact with the school teachers often for the betterment of

their wards.

Students should develop their own study habits irrespective of the Standard, Medium of

Instruction, Nature of School and Area.

Measures should be adopted by the authorities such as special coaching classes,

conduction of eminent resource persons to enhance the study habits of the students..

The rural students may lack from the latest information when compared to the urban

students due to the exposure to various aspects. This gap can be bridged by the school

authorities and teachers by providing internet facilities to the students in their schools.

The students can be made access to the availability of the resources. By this the students

may update themselves.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

A study can be undertaken to know the relation of Teacher competency and Study habits.

A study can be taken to know the significant relationship between peer group influence

and Study habits.

A study can be undertaken to know the significant relationship between Motivation of

head of the Institution and Academic achievement of students.

CONCLUSION

From the present Study, the investigator could derive the following

conclusions: Study Habits is one of the important factors for the achievement of the students.

If there exists any planned form of Study Habits and if followed, it will definitely much

helpful in planning and executing the plans in life. Student, Teachers, Parents are working

hard throughout the year for the Academic Achievement. Steps are to be taken by the

educational experts and parents to strengthen the children in all the above aspects which will



have positive contribution for the development of our nation. From the research, the

researcher is able to find that the variable Study Habits is contributing for the Academic

Achievement.

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Gormly. A.V. and Brondzinsky (1993) Lifespan Human Development , Harcourt

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Hebb. D.O. (1997) Text Book of Psychology, W.B.Saunders Co., Me. Hill University,

Philadelphia.

Jerkome Kagan (1984) The "Nature of the Child, Basic Books Inc.,Publishers, New York.

Jersild. A.Tand Gates A.I. (1985) Educational Psychology, Macmillan Publishing

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STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ... Dr.prema.pdfSRJIS/K. PREMALAKSHAMI, (551-565) OCT-NOV, 2012, Vol. – I, Issue-III Page 551 STUDY HABITS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF HIGHER